Sunday, January 06, 2008
Food, "Dish"

The real deal

Healthy iced tea, fool-proof vodka, tequila in a martini and private chefs

Charles Barkley CREDIT: Courtesy of Honest Tea

OPRAH AND RACHAEL RAY’S POMEGRANATE MARTINI Ingredients 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice 2 oz. Absolut Citron vodka OR Tequila Don Julio Blanco 1 oz. Cointreau liquor Cup of ice Optional: Splash of sparkling water Optional: Squeeze of lemon Instructions Shake ingredients in a shaker, and pour into a chilled martini glasses. Put pomegranate fruit into glass as garnish.

Healthy iced tea, fool-proof vodka, tequila in a martini and private chefs
By Kirsten Ott

TRUE BLUE
Our beverages have come a long way, baby. The focus from water to wine has evolved to a bevy of liquid offerings—carbonated, alcoholic, sugary, caffeinated, artificial coloring … the list goes on. Consumer’s are thirsty for something else—something more. According to Datamonitor (New York), the functional beverage category is expected to grow into a $9.9 billion dollar industry, a 39 percent increase from 2005. Organic, natural and functional are all qualities of Honest Tea, a line of ready-to-drink iced teas, line of ades and kids’ beverages hailing from Bethesda, Md. The cool, down-to-earth company celebrates 10 years of business this year, and it’s been fully certified by the USDA as organic since 2004—it was the first tea company to offer an entire line of organic bottles and bags. The environmentally friendly company also sells some of its teas in PET-1 bottles, which are fully recyclable and requires less energy to produce and ship. This past fall, Honest Tea introduced nine new products, including Pomegranate White Tea with Açaí and the newest Honest Ade, Orange Mango with Mangosteen, both in plastic, and Sublime Mate (Honest Tea’s first yerba mate drink) and Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry in glass. The Just Green and Just Black are the first of its teas available in 64-oz. bottles. This spring, Honest Tea launches its new line, Honest Kids, with three flavors of low-sugar organic thirst quenchers: Goodness Grapeness, Tropical Tango Punch and Berry Berry Good Lemonade. The refreshing, low-cal beverages have just a tad of sweetness from organic sugar cane, are rich with antioxidants like mangosteen and açaí and white tea and taste real, like fresh fruit. honesttea.com.

RICH & PURE
Ah, purity. With all this talk of keeping our juices free and clear of crap, let’s get real. What we really want is full-on goodness from our liquor. A thirst-quencher and mood-enhancer rolled into one, Absolut 100, a refined 100-proof vodka that hit shelves this past fall. Though some say vodka has no taste, the clean refreshing splash of this smooth one is pleasingly flavorful to my palate—this one is perfect served solo, chilled and in a shot glass. Bottled in a dramatic black-coated bottle, the crystal clear Absolut 100 is made exclusively from the winter wheat grown in the rich fields of southern Sweden. absolut.com.

RED HOT
Pomegranates are praised for their tart sweetness and their rich beauty. Their high in vitamin C and potassium, and the seeded apples have a reputation for aiding in preventing cancer and heart disease. Their freshness period wraps at the end of January, but the juice is available year-round. This past holiday season, I made Oprah and Rachael Ray’s Pomegranate Martini, which was such a huge hit with my family and friends that I plan on drinking it often—for my health, of course. You can use citrus vodka or white tequila—I chose the latter, with Tequila Don Julio Blanco, and rimmed the martini glasses with the not-too-sweet crushed Stirrings Pomegranate Rimmer, made from crushed pomegranates and sugar. Tip: Slip a freshly cut lime wedge around the lip of the glass to whet it before placing glass in the tin.

PRIVATE FEAST
I attended a festive dinner party on NYE. Normally, my BFF and her partner do all the cooking themselves, but this year was not a good one for health, and thus they turned to a professional for a little assistance. Enter Kerel Fryar, head chef and owner of Soulful Infusion, a private chef service. Fryar whipped up a delicious feast for 20 peopleprobably on little notice, knowing my BFF. Appetizers of asparagus and beef and bacon-wrapped shrimp kept the guests happy until we were invited to dig in to the poached-pear and honey-drizzled salad, plump wild rice and skewers of peppers, chicken, tomatoes and Italian sausage. The crowd was impressed, full and happy. We drank to our health with Pomegranate Martinis and, of course, Champagne. soulfulinfusion.com SP

When she’s not checking out restaurants, interviewing chefs or nodding off after her fifth glass of wine, Life, Food & Style Editor Kirsten Ott dishes culinary and cocktail insights. E-mail her at kirstenott@sundaypaper.com.